Love it or hate it, there’s no denying the success that befell upon the Shenmue series. The first two installments managed to rope in a huge cult following, so it was perhaps not so much of a surprise that Shenmue III proceeded to become the most-funded video game on Kickstarter, following its debut at E3 2015.
But fans were left waiting for a launch date confirmation as it went through two rounds of changes – the first supposedly in the second half of 2017, with the more recent one placed to be released somewhere in 2019.
On the opening day of Gamescom 2018, publisher Deep Silver has finally revealed the magic date. Come August 27, 2019, players can once again dive back into the adventures of main protagonist Ryo Hazuki as he goes on a quest for revenge.
A brief synopsis of the game reads:
In 1987, following the events of Shenmue II, teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki has journeyed from Yokosuka, Japan, to the mountains of Guilin, China, in search of his father’s killer, Lan Di. There he met Ling Shenhua, a mysterious girl who previously appeared in his dreams. After learning the legend of her village, which foretells a united path between them, Ryo and Shenhua embark on a new journey which reveals their shared destiny. Lan Di returns with a new antagonist, Niao Sun.
That’d mean another year of waiting, but no fret: those who are looking to relive the nostalgic days may do so with the remastered Shenmue I and II collection for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, which went live just yesterday.
Shenmue III will be arriving on PC and PS4 on August 27, 2018.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Jake Su
